Method and system relating to social media technologies configured for permissioned activities on a network platform hosting shareholder forum and meetings

ABSTRACT

In an embodiment, a method performed in the computing system comprises steps of (a) electronically receiving an identifier concerning an investor&#39;s ownership or management of at least one brokerage account or at least one security; (b) electronically validating by the computing system the investor by querying a record database using the identifier to obtain an information from at least one investment account associated with the investor; (c) electronically extracting by the computing system the information; (d) electronically populating by the computing system a profile for the investor with the extracted information and electronically storing the extracted information to a computer readable medium in a profile database, wherein the extracted information comprises at least the investor&#39;s positional information; (e) electronically providing by the computing system at least one capability to the investor, wherein the capability allows the investor to electronically perform one or more activities; and (f) electronically generating by the computing system a representation of a quantity of a security owned or managed by the investor from the investor&#39;s positional information without generating a personal information of the investor.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/962,305, filed Dec. 8, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/695,900, filed Apr. 24, 2015, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/757,230, filed Feb.1, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/567,506, filed Sep. 25, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,370,244, whichclaims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/100,177, filed Sep. 25, 2008, the entirety of whichare incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a method and system concerning computerrelated social media technologies for financial market participants,such as retail investors, institutional investors, and issuers, i.e.institutions, such as public companies, that issue publicly availablefinancial instruments, such as shares.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention provides the financial market participants with acomputing system, The Investor Network, that facilitates communicationexchange and dissemination of information among these marketparticipants.

In an embodiment, a method performed in the computing system comprisessteps of (a) electronically receiving an identifier concerning aninvestor's ownership or management of at least one brokerage account orat least one security; (b) electronically validating by the computingsystem the investor by querying a record database using the identifierto obtain an information from at least one investment account associatedwith the investor; (c) electronically extracting by the computing systemthe information; (d) electronically populating by the computing system aprofile for the investor in The Investor Network with the extractedinformation and electronically storing the extracted information to acomputer readable medium in a profile database of The Investor Network,wherein the extracted information comprises at least the investor'spositional information; (e) electronically providing by the computingsystem at least one capability to the investor, wherein the capabilityallows the investor to electronically perform one or more activities inThe Investor Network; and (f) electronically generating by the computingsystem in The Investor Network a representation of a quantity of asecurity owned or managed by the investor from the investor's positionalinformation without generating a personal information of the investor.In an embodiment, after step (f) of the method in accordance with theinvention, electronically and necessarily displaying, by the computersystem, the generated representation of the quantity of the security. Inanother embodiment, in accordance with the method of the invention,electronically preventing the investor from altering or deleting thedisplayed representation of the quantity of the security.

In an embodiment, the representation of a quantity of a security is anumber range that includes the number of shares owned or managed. In anembodiment, the representation of a quantity of a security is a monetaryvalue of a quantity of a security owned or managed.

In embodiments, the computing system electronically and periodicallyupdates the investor's profile. In embodiments, the participation in aShareholder Forum may be restricted to only validated shareholders of acompany. In embodiments, the Shareholder Forum is typically originatedby a sponsoring issuer. In embodiments, the identifier can be proxycontrol number or other information from the investor's profile. Inembodiments, the investor's profile further comprises an investor typeidentifier. In embodiments, at least one capability is provided based ona value of the investor type identifier in the investor's profile. Inembodiments, the access to certain content of The Investor Network isrestricted based on a value of the investor type identifier. Inembodiments, the computing system updates the investor's profile beforethe investor is allowed to perform at least one activity. Inembodiments, certain investor's activities may be electronically storedin a database. In embodiments, the information from the profile databaseand the activity database is aggregated.

In an embodiment, a programmed computer comprises a memory having atleast one region for storing computer executable program code; and aprocessor for executing the program code stored in the memory, whereinthe program code comprises: (a) code to electronically receive anidentifier concerning an investor's ownership or management of at leastone brokerage account or at least one security; (b) code to validate theinvestor by querying a record database using the identifier to obtain aninformation from at least one investment account associated with theinvestor; (c) code to extract the information; (d) code to populate aprofile for the investor in The Investor Network with the extractedinformation and store the extracted information to a computer readablemedium in a profile database of The Investor Network, wherein theextracted information comprises at least the investor's positionalinformation; (e) code to provide at least one capability to theinvestor, wherein the capability allows the investor to electronicallyperform one or more activities in The Investor Network; and (f) code togenerate a representation of a quantity of a security owned or managedby the investor from the investor's positional information withoutgenerating a personal information of the investor.

In embodiments, a computer readable medium is encoded with computerreadable program code, including subroutines for (a) electronicallyreceiving an identifier concerning an investor's ownership or managementof at least one brokerage account or at least one security; (b)electronically validating by the computing system the investor byquerying a record database using the identifier to obtain an informationfrom at least one investment account associated with the investor; (c)electronically extracting by the computing system the information; (d)electronically populating by the computing system a profile for theinvestor in The Investor Network with the extracted information andelectronically storing the extracted information to a computer readablemedium in a profile database of The Investor Network, wherein theextracted information comprises at least the investor's positionalinformation; (e) electronically providing by the computing system atleast one capability to the investor, wherein the capability allows theinvestor to electronically perform one or more activities in TheInvestor Network; and (f) electronically generating by the computingsystem in The Investor Network a representation of a quantity of asecurity owned or managed by the investor from the investor's positionalinformation without generating a personal information of the investor.In embodiments, the first, second, third, and fourth computers is one ormore programmed computers. In embodiments, the one or more programmedcomputers are distributed over several physical locations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be further explained with reference to theattached drawings, wherein like structures are referred to by likenumerals throughout the several views. The drawings shown are notnecessarily to scale, with emphasis instead generally being placed uponillustrating the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of an environment in which the presentinvention may operate.

FIG. 2 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of the computer andnetwork architecture that supports the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates yet another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram in accordance with yet anotherembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram in accordance with yet anotherembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 illustrates a diagram in accordance with another embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein;however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments aremerely illustrative of the invention that is embodied in various forms.In addition, each of the examples given in connection with the variousembodiments of the invention are intended to be illustrative, and notrestrictive. Further, the figures are not necessarily to scale, somefeatures is exaggerated to show details of particular components. Inaddition, any measurements, specifications and the like shown in thefigures are intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. Therefore,specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not tobe interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis forteaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the presentinvention.

Definitions

Financial market participants—any party involved in transactionsconcerning an investment instrument. This includes corporations, mutualfund companies, custodians, financial institutions—e.g. brokerages,hedge funds, other money management institution, andbanks,—shareholders, bondholders, transfer agents, solicitors, proxyagents, voting agents, proxy advisors, and any other interested party.

An investment instrument or a security—a fungible, negotiable instrumentrepresenting financial value and used as means to acquire equity capitalor loan capital. Securities are broadly categorized into debt securities(such as banknotes, promissory notes, bonds and debentures); equitysecurities, e.g., common stocks; and derivative contracts, such asforwards, futures, options and swaps.

An investor—a person or an entity that owns, manages, possesses and/orcontrols an investment instrument. The investor has at least oneinvestment account at a financial institution and/or owns at least onesecurity.

Retail Investor—an individual investor possessing shares of a givensecurity. Retail investors are typically either beneficial shareholdersor registered shareholders. Professional/Institutional Investor—aninvestor, such as a bank, insurance company, public/private pensionplan, retirement fund, hedge fund, or mutual fund, that is financiallysophisticated and makes large investments, often held in very largeportfolios of investments. Because of their sophistication,institutional investors may often participate in private placements ofsecurities, in which certain aspects of the securities laws may beinapplicable. The professional investors may get paid for their abilityto manage retail investors or organization's investment. For example, inembodiments, professional investors may include buy side portfoliomanagers and hedge fund managers.

Beneficial Shareholder—a retail investor who holds shares of theirsecurities in the account of a bank or broker, also known as “in StreetName.” The broker is in possession of the securities on behalf of theunderlying shareholder.

Registered Shareholder—an investor who holds shares of their securitiesdirectly through the issuer or its transfer agent.

Issuers—Publicly-traded corporations and mutual fund companies.

Investor Account—an account from which an investor can buy or sell atleast one security.

Positional Information—a quantity of a security owned and/or managed byan the investor.

Personal Information—information about a person that comprises aperson's name, address, telephone, social security number and/or anyother similar information.

Computing System—a computer system that includes one or more programmedcomputers; or a system that employs distributing networking; or othertype of system that might be used.

Electronic/Web/Internet content—in general we view data, applications,E-Services, images (graphics), audio and video files, personal Webpages, archived e-mail messages, and many more forms of file and datasystems as belonging to websites and web pages.

Electronic Communication—each and every electronic means ofcommunication concerning the impact of securities, and exchanged betweenthe financial market participants regarding the value, actions, andresults of a corporate action and any corporate issuer and/or any of itssubsidiaries, contractors, and/or interested parties that may haveinterest in the securities of such corporation or mutual fund company.Thus, “electronic communication” includes each and every messageexchanged or sent among the financial market participants or posted bythe financial market participants to a common attended website on theInternet.

Electronic/Computer-related Social Media technologies—the Internet'stechnologies that allow an Internet user to create an or manipulateonline content. Social media technologies may include, for example:blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall-postings, email, instant messaging,music-sharing, crowd sourcing, and voice over IP.

Social media/Online Content—the Internet's content that can take manydifferent forms, including Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs,wikis, podcasts, pictures and video.

Social Network Service—a service that focuses on building onlinecommunities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who areinterested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Mostsocial network services are web based and provide a variety of ways forusers to interact. The social network service may operate in a manner inwhich a social network's members serve dual roles as both the suppliersand the consumers of content or in another manner in which the suppliersand consumers of content are distinct agents. A social network can referto a computer network connecting entities, such as people ororganizations, by a set of social relationships, such as friendship,co-working, or information exchange. Of course, a social network canrefer to a computer application or data connecting such entities by suchsocial relationships. Examples of social networks include Linkedin.comand Facebook.com.

The Investor Network—an investment-oriented social networking site inaccordance with embodiments of this invention.

Internet Forum, or message board—an online discussion website or adiscussion section of a website, which is supported by web applicationsmanaging user-generated content, for example posts, blogs, and like.

A Shareholder Forum—a place on The Investor Network, may be in a form ofan Internet forum, which concerns shareholders of a particular securityand may or may not be sponsored by an issuer.

Post—a user submitted message enclosed into a block which may containthe user's details and the date and time it was submitted. Posts areoften contained in threads, where they appear as boxes one afteranother. The first post starts the thread; this may be called theoriginal post, or OP. Posts that follow in the thread are meant tocontinue discussion about that post, or respond to other replies.

Chat Room—any form of synchronous conferencing or asynchronousconferencing. The term can thus mean any technology ranging fromreal-time online chat over instant messaging and online forums to fullyimmersive graphical social environments.

Capability—an entitlement to perform a certain activity within TheInvestor Network.

Permission—a degree to which a member can utilize a particularcapability. The application permissions are used to configure howvisitors will access the forums and other features of the software.

Web 2.0 is web development and web design that facilitates interactiveinformation sharing, interoperability, user-centered design[1] andcollaboration on the World Wide Web. Examples of Web 2.0 includeweb-based communities, hosted services, web applications,social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, mashups andfolksonomies. A Web 2.0 site allows its users to interact with otherusers or to change website content, in contrast to non-interactivewebsites where users are limited to the passive viewing of informationthat is provided to them.

Illustrative Operating Environment

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of an environment in which the presentinvention operates. However, not all of these components are required topractice the invention, and variations in the arrangement and type ofthe components can be made without departing from the spirit or scope ofthe invention. In some embodiment, The Investor Network hosts a largenumber of members and concurrent transactions. In other embodiments, TheInvestor Network is based on a scalable computer and networkarchitecture that incorporates varies strategies for assessing the data,caching, searching, and database connection pooling. An example of thescalable architecture is an architecture that is capable of operatingmultiple servers.

As shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 includes client devices 102-104,network 105, and network servers (NS) 106 and 107. Network 105 is incommunication with and enables communication between each of clientdevices 102-104, and NSs 106 and 107.

In embodiments, client devices 102-104 include virtually any computingdevice capable of receiving and sending a message over a network, suchas network 105, to and from another computing device, such as NSs 106and 107, each other, and the like. In embodiments, the set of suchdevices includes devices that typically connect using a wiredcommunications medium such as personal computers, multiprocessorsystems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics,network PCs, and the like. In embodiments, the set of such devices alsoincludes devices that typically connect using a wireless communicationsmedium such as cell phones, smart phones, pagers, walkie talkies, radiofrequency (RF) devices, infrared (IR) devices, CBs, integrated devicescombining one or more of the preceding devices, or virtually any mobiledevice, and the like. Similarly, in embodiments, client devices 102-104are any device that is capable of connecting using a wired or wirelesscommunication medium such as a PDA, POCKET PC, wearable computer, andany other device that is equipped to communicate over a wired and/orwireless communication medium.

In embodiments, each client device within client devices 102-104includes a browser application that is configured to receive and to sendweb pages, emails, and the like. In embodiments, the browser applicationis configured to receive and display graphics, text, multimedia, and thelike, employing virtually any web based language, including, but notlimited to HyperText Markup Language (HTML), JavaScript, Cascading StyleSheets, Flash, and the like. In embodiments, The Investor Network may beprogrammed in .Net.

In embodiments, client devices 102-104 are be further configured toreceive a message from the another computing device employing anothermechanism, including, but not limited to email, Short Message Service(SMS), Multimedia Message Service (MMS), instant messaging (IM),internet relay chat (IRC), mIRC, Jabber, and the like.

In embodiments, client devices 102-104 are further configured to enablea user to manage a user profile, category information, activityparticipation, and the like, which may in turn be saved at a remotelocation, such as NSs 106 and 107, and the like. As such, inembodiments, client devices 102-104 further include a client applicationthat is configured to manage various actions on behalf of the clientdevice. For example, in embodiments, the client application enables auser to interact with the browser application, email application, andthe like, to customize how another investor network user might view apersona, profile, or the like associated with the user. For example, inembodiments, the user employs the client application, in part, toprovide one customized view for his or her investment portfolio, anothercustomized view for a group of like members of The Investor Network withwhom he or she communicates, yet another view for other participants ofThe Investor Network and/or activities provided by The Investor Network.

In embodiments, network 105 is configured to couple one computing deviceto another computing device to enable them to communicate. Inembodiments, network 105 is enabled to employ any form of computerreadable media for communicating information from one electronic deviceto another. Also, in embodiments, network 105 includes a wirelessinterface, and/or a wired interface, such as the Internet, in additionto local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), directconnections, such as through a universal serial bus (USB) port, otherforms of computer-readable media, or any combination thereof. Inembodiments, on an interconnected set of LANs, including those based ondiffering architectures and protocols, a router acts as a link betweenLANs, enabling messages to be sent from one to another. Also, in someembodiments, communication links within LANs typically include twistedwire pair or coaxial cable, while communication links between networksmay utilize analog telephone lines, full or fractional dedicated digitallines including T1, T2, T3, and T4, Integrated Services Digital Networks(ISDNs), Digital Subscriber Lines (DSLs), wireless links includingsatellite links, or other communications links known to those skilled inthe art. Furthermore, in embodiments, remote computers and other relatedelectronic devices could be remotely connected to either LANs or WANsvia a modem and temporary telephone link. In essence, in embodiments,network 105 includes any communication method by which information maytravel between client devices 102-104, and NSs 106 and 107.

The media used to transmit information in communication links asdescribed above illustrates one type of computer-readable media, namelycommunication media. Generally, computer-readable media includes anymedia that can be accessed by a computing device. Computer-readablemedia may include computer storage media, communication media, or anycombination thereof.

Additionally, communication media typically embodies computer-readableinstructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in amodulated data signal such as a carrier wave, data signal, or othertransport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. Theterms “modulated data signal,” and “carrier-wave signal” includes asignal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed insuch a manner as to encode information, instructions, data, and thelike, in the signal. By way of example, communication media includeswired media such as twisted pair, coaxial cable, fiber optics, waveguides, and other wired media and wireless media such as acoustic, RF,infrared, and other wireless media.

One embodiment of NSs 106 and 107 are described in more detail below inconjunction with FIG. 2. Briefly, in embodiments, however, INSs 106 and107 include any computing device capable of connecting to NETWORK 105 tomanage a customization of a view associated with The Investor Networkuser, such as a user of at least one of client devices 102-104. Inembodiments, devices that may operate as NSs 106 and 107 includemultiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, network PCs, servers, and the like.

In embodiments, NSs 106 and 107 are configured to receive informationassociated with a user and to enable the user to customize a view basedin part, on the received information. In embodiments, the receivedinformation includes, but is not limited to, profile information,category information, an activity, membership information associatedwith a category, and the like.

In embodiments, NSs 106 and 107 further employ the received informationto enable the user to customize a view associated with The InvestorNetwork perspective based, in part, on received criteria. Inembodiments, by providing customized views, the user may vary quantitiesof personal information publicly known about the user.

In embodiments, NSs 106, 107 also enable another user of The InvestorNetwork, such as a user of one of client devices 102-104, to view thecustomized view based on the received criteria. In embodiments, NSs 106,107 employ a web service, email service, and the like, to make thecustomized view available to the other investor network user, asappropriate.

In embodiments, NSs 106, 107 employ processes such as described in moredetail below in conjunction with other figures to manage the customizedviews.

In embodiments, various systems in accordance with the present inventionare constructed. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary system inwhich exemplary embodiments of the present invention operate. Inembodiments, the present invention operates, and can be embodied in,other systems as well. In embodiments, The Investor Network'sarchitecture has a large number of members and concurrent transactions.

FIG. 2 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of the computer andnetwork architecture that supports The Investor Network. The clientdevices 202 a, 202 b thru 202 n shown each comprises a computer-readablemedium, such as a random access memory (RAM) 208 coupled to a processor210. The processor 210 executes computer-executable program instructionsstored in memory 208. Such processors comprise a microprocessor, anASIC, and state machines. Such processors comprise, or are be incommunication with, media, for example computer-readable media, whichstores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause theprocessor to perform the steps described herein. Embodiments ofcomputer-readable media include, but are not limited to, an electronic,optical, magnetic, or other storage or transmission device capable ofproviding a processor, such as the processor 210 of client 202 a, withcomputer-readable instructions. Other examples of suitable mediainclude, but are not limited to, a floppy disk, CD-ROM, DVD, magneticdisk, memory chip, ROM, RAM, an ASIC, a configured processor, alloptical media, all magnetic tape or other magnetic media, or any othermedium from which a computer processor can read instructions. Also,various other forms of computer-readable media transmit or carryinstructions to a computer, including a router, private or publicnetwork, or other transmission device or channel, both wired andwireless. The instructions comprise code from any computer-programminglanguage, including, for example, C, C++, C#, Visual Basic, Java,Python, Perl, and JavaScript.

In some embodiments, Client devices 202 a-n also comprise a number ofexternal or internal devices such as a mouse, a CD-ROM, DVD, a keyboard,a display, or other input or output devices. Examples of client devices202 a-n are personal computers, digital assistants, personal digitalassistants, cellular phones, mobile phones, smart phones, pagers,digital tablets, laptop computers, Internet appliances, and otherprocessor-based devices. In general, a client device 202 a are be anytype of processor-based platform that is connected to a network 206 andthat interacts with one or more application programs. Client devices 202a-n operate on any operating system capable of supporting a browser orbrowser-enabled application, such as Microsoft™, Windows™, or Linux. Theclient devices 202 a-n shown include, for example, personal computersexecuting a browser application program such as Microsoft Corporation'sInternet Explorer™, Apple Computer, Inc.'s Safari™, Mozilla Firefox, andOpera.

In some embodiments, through the client devices 202 a-n, users/investors212 a-n communicate over The Investor Network 206 with each other andwith other systems and devices coupled to the network 206. As shown inFIG. 2, server devices 204 and 213 are also coupled to the network 206.

In other embodiments, the server devices 204, 213 shown comprises aserver executing The Investor Network application program. The InvestorNetwork application program allows users, such as user 212 a, tointeract with and participate in The Investor Network.

In some specific embodiments, The Investor Network can comprise any of avariety of suitable arrangements. An entity or member of The InvestorNetwork can have a profile. In embodiments, The Investor Networkfacilitates interactions between member profiles and allow associationsor relationships between member profiles. In embodiments, each profilerepresents an investor or an issuer. In embodiments, each profilecontains entries, and each entry comprises information associated with aprofile. Examples of entries for a person profile can compriseinformation regarding personal preferences, professional preferenceand/or investment preferences. In embodiments, entries comprise marketsector, customer base, location, supplier information, net profits, networth, number of employees, stock performance, or other types ofinformation associated with the business profile. Additionally, entrieswithin a profile can comprise associations with other profiles. Inembodiments, associations between profiles within The Investor Networkinclude, for example, friendships, business relationships, investmentrelationships, acquaintances, community associations, activity partnerassociations, common investor interest associations, commoncharacteristic associations, or any other suitable type of associationbetween profiles.

In embodiments, The Investor Network also comprises communities. Inembodiments, communities within The Investor Network represent groups ofmembers sharing common interests or characteristics about investing, aparticular investment strategy, an investment product, and/or a company.Communities can comprise subcommunities, and multiple communities can bearranged into global communities. In embodiments, subcommunities cancomprise groups of profiles within a larger community that share commoninterests or characteristics independent from the entire community.

In embodiments, similar to the client devices 202 a-n, the serverdevices 204, 213 shown comprise processors 205, 214 coupled tocomputer-readable memory. In embodiments, the server devices 204, 213are in communication with The Investor Network's databases 207, 215. Inembodiments, server devices 204, 213 are implemented as a network ofcomputer processors. Examples of a server device, such as server devices204 and 213, are servers, mainframe computers, networked computers, aprocessor-based device, and similar types of systems and devices. Inembodiments, client processor 210 and the server processor 205, 214 areprocessors from Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif. and/or MotorolaCorporation of Schaumburg, Ill.

In embodiments, The Investor Network implements requirements for writepermissions on the web server. In embodiments, The Investor Networkfilters content that members publish within the community through, forexample, an HTML filter that determines which HTML tags are allowed inthe incoming content.

In embodiments, server devices 204, 213 also provide access to storageelements, such as a network storage element, in the example shown inFIG. 2, databases 207 and 215. The databases 207, 215 are used to storeinformation for The Investor Network. In embodiments, data storageelements include any one or combination of methods for storing data,including without limitation, arrays, hash tables, lists, and pairs. Inembodiments, other similar types of data storage devices can be accessedby the server devices 204 and 213. In embodiments, The Investor Networkapplication program receives data comprising the members profiles fromThe Investor Network's databases 207 and 215 and also sends datacomprising member profiles to The Investor Network databases forstorage. In embodiments, The Investor Network's databases 207 and 215are physically attached or otherwise in communication with The InvestorNetwork application program by way of a network or other connection. Inembodiments, the database platform is either Oracle or SQLServer, andthe operating systems include either Windows or Unix (AIX, Solaris).

It should be noted that embodiments of the present invention comprisesystems having different architecture than that which is shown in FIGS.1 and 2. For example, in some systems according to the presentinvention, server device 204 comprises a single physical or logicalserver. The systems 100 and 200 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are merelyexemplary, and are used to help explain The Investor Network and methodsillustrated in other figures.

In embodiments, The Investor Network provides a communication vehiclefor shareholders to voice concerns/questions and allows thosecorporations to address the top concerns on a regularly scheduled orongoing basis. In embodiments, The Investor Network provides a vehiclefor brokerage clients to engage in Web 2.0 capabilities in a secureenvironment. In embodiments, The Investor Network provides a capabilityfor members of investment oriented social networks to differentiate eachother and filter out irrelevant discussions. In embodiments, TheInvestor Network provides an information exchange whereby subscribers tothe community (namely corporations and institutional investors) tap intothe insight of the community to identify trends and develop strategies.In embodiments, The Investor Network charges subscription/consultingfees to issuers, professional investors and other interested parties. Inembodiments, The Investor Network may include advertising. Inembodiments, The Investor Network provides information to participatingand non-participating brokers through it report generation capabilities,including, for example, reports regarding market segments and trends. Inembodiments, The Investor Network allows issuers to sponsor, conduct,and/or participate in Shareholder Forums in compliance with SEC or otherregulatory agency rules and regulations.

In embodiments, The Investor Network provides an environment in whichthere are four (4) primary groups: issuers, institutional investors,retail investors, and general public. The following figures andillustrative examples show how these four groups may interact within TheInvestor Network. However, The Investor Network is not limited to thesefour groups and may include any other financial market participant suchas government agencies, marketers, journalists, etc. For example, FIG. 3illustrates an embodiment of The Investor Network 300 that includesretail investors 301, professional investors 302, corporate and mutualfund issuers 303, and general public 304.

In embodiments, in The Investor Network 300, issuers 303 are enabled toestablish a more direct access to their shareholders which can improvecorporate governance. In embodiments, The Investor Network 300 enablesone-on-one dialogue between an issuer 303 and any agreeableparticipating shareholder (301,302), without identifying theshareholder. In embodiments, The Investor Network 300 provides a forumfor scheduled broadcast announcements to the shareholder population andgauges responses from the community. In embodiments, The InvestorNetwork 300 is consistent with SEC's rules for Shareholder Forums. Inembodiments, The Investor Network 300 provides metrics and analysis forthe issuer to understand issues bubbling up from the shareholder andinvestor community. In some embodiments, The Investor Network 300 allowsissuers 303 to perform, for example, the following activities:

read access to all forums;

post announcements to their sponsored Shareholder Forum;

respond to top voted topics on a sponsored Shareholder Forum;

create surveys/polls to shareholders.

In embodiments, The Investor Network 300 gives professional investors302 the ability to share investment-related ideas with otherprofessional investors 302. In embodiments, The Investor Network 300restricts access to certain sections of The Investor Network 300 toprofessional investors 302 only, allowing for discussions that are moremeaningful to professional investors. In embodiments, The InvestorNetwork 300 validates, using pre-existing credentials, as discussedbelow, to selectively restrict access to certain sections of TheInvestor Network 300. In embodiments, The Investor Network 300 providesShareholder Forums where professional investors 302 meet with corporatemanagement. In embodiments, The Investor Network provides professionalinvestors 302 and issuers 303 with metrics and trending information,associated with community sentiment, usage and behavioral patterns. Insome embodiments, The Investor Network 300 allows professional investors302 to perform, for example, the following activities:

read access to all forums;

write access to professional forums and general forums;

ability to post/vote on topics to be addressed by issuers in SharehodlerForums where they hold positions; and

create survey/polls.

In embodiments, The Investor Network 300 provides retail investors 301with ability to share investment-related ideas. In embodiments, TheInvestor Network 300 selectively allows certain retail investors 301 tohave access to view content posted by professional investors. Inembodiments, The Investor Network 300 allows retail investors 301 toengage in the following typical activities, for example: reading areview on a recent analyst report, placing a comment on a companyannouncement, discussing economic trends with likeminded investors, etc.In embodiments, The Investor Network 300 grants retail investors 301access rights to perform certain activities using The Investor Network'scapabilities upon being validated in accordance with this invention. Inembodiments, The Investor Network 300 restricts non-validated members toview-only access. In embodiments, The Investor Network 300 enablesvalidated retail investors 301 to participate in a Shareholder Forum todiscuss shareholder related items or other issues. In other specificembodiment, The Investor Network 300 may restrict the participation in aShareholder Forum to retail investors who own shares in the companysponsoring the Shareholder Forum.

In some embodiments, The Investor Network 300 allows validated retailinvestors 301 to perform, for example, the following activities:

read access to all forums or certain forums that concern a company whosesecurity they own and/or manage;

write access to general forums; and

post/vote on topics to be addressed by issuer in Shareholder Forum ifthey are shareholders.

In embodiments, The Investor Network 300 allows general public 304 toread access to general forums.

In embodiments, The Investor Network may entitle participating brokeragefirms, broker-dealers, or banks with a capability to provide theirretail brokerage clients with direct access to The Investor Network,including Shareholder Forums. In embodiments, The Investor Networkprovides participating brokerage firms with the ability to deliver aninvestment oriented social networking experience to their clients viatheir brokerage firms' own website; thus allowing participatingbrokerages to maintain ownership of the relationship with their clients.In embodiments, The Investor Network has a broker-access component thataggregates information across multiple brokerage firms. In embodiments,the retail investor who accesses The Investor Network directly throughits brokerage's site is not required to separately provide privateinformation to be validated. In embodiments, he Investor Networkcollects information on member behavior in order to allow brokeragefirms to gain insight into their client base.

In embodiments, The Investor Network includes at least three groups ofparticipants: retail investors, professional investors, and issuers.According to some embodiments, The Investor Network providescapabilities to retail investors that allow to, for example: (1)exchange ideas with other validated investors, e.g. other retailinvestors and professional investors; (2) peer into conversations amongprofessional investors to gain insight; (3) understand and comment oncorporate actions taken by issuers that may affect the retail investor'sinvestments; (4) find likeminded members/investors; (5) receive a rewardor compensation for becoming an active participant; and other.

In another embodiment, The Investor Network provides capabilities toprofessional investors that allow professional investors to, forexample: (1) build a community of peers in a trusted environment; (2)participate in issuer-sponsored Shareholder Forums (if a shareholder)(3) forecast consumer sentiment from a select and active community base;(4) gain early insight into trends/patterns affecting stock performance;and other.

In yet another embodiments, The Investor Network provides capabilitiesto corporations/issuers that allow issuers to, for example: (1) sponsora Shareholder Forum; (2) establish connection to active shareholder,e.g. retail and professional investors; (3) perform real time surveysinto shareholder sentiment on corporate actions; (4) find opportunitiesto improve customer satisfaction, increase loyalty and ensureshareholder satisfaction.

In embodiments, The Investor Network is accessed in accordance with amechanism allowing the access through a broker based window on thebroker's web site. In embodiments, The Investor Network is accessed inaccordance with a mechanism allowing the access through a standalonesite. FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of the broker based access to TheInvestor Network. In embodiments, when accessing The Investor Networkthrough a broker-based window, the look and feel of the web site mimicsthe broker's client-side web site through the use of a customized stylesheet (CSS). In embodiments, the window looks as it is a part of thebrokerage's web presence and appears as a seamless extension for thebrokerage client. In embodiments, as the content is generated with eachclick within The Investor Network, the resulting HTML is returned to thebroker based application to be displayed within their page layout. Inembodiments, the displayed content within the broker specific window isthe aggregation of all posts among websites of participating brokers andthe stand-alone site, regardless of where the member accesses TheInvestor Network. In embodiments, although the content is aggregatedacross brokers, the member profile that is displayed alongside each postdoes not display the identity of a broker whose web site member uses toaccess The Investor Network; thus providing anonymity to the retailinvestors and generating a positive perception of content within eachindividual broker site. In embodiments, The Investor Network uses IFramesoftware or alike to generate the look and feel of the broker's website.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate embodiments of accessing The Investor Networkthrough a stand-alone site. In some embodiments, the experience withinThe Investor Network varies based on whether the member accesses TheInvestor Network through the broker based window or through thestand-alone site. For example, in some embodiments, for certain memberswho accesses The Investor Network from the stand-alone site, the accessto premium content including the professional investor forums isselectively restricted. In embodiments, the stand-alone site validatesretail investors when it receives information about investors' brokeraccounts. In embodiments, the stand-alone site may utilize the presenceof advertising. In embodiments, The Investor Network measures memberactivity and presents metrics to third party, thus allowing third partyto best optimize the placement and type of ads within The InvestorNetwork. In embodiments, the stand-alone site provides the commoditizedfinancial information including market overview, stock charting,financial performance, valuation ratios, etc (me-to functionality). Inembodiments, the stand-alone site integrates the authentication processfor professional investors and corporations.

In embodiments, The Investor Network is further customized based on howit validates the retail investors. For example, in some embodiments,once a retail investor who enters through the stand-alone site isvalidated, this retail investor has the same access rights as a retailinvestor who accesses The Investor Network through a web site of his orher broker and is allowed to access all forums, create new posts, andreply to threads on the general forums, submit comments/issues in theShareholder Forums of the issuers in which the validated retail investorhas validated positions. In embodiments, The Investor Network mayrestrict access to a Shareholder Forum that is sponsored by an issuer,by requiring an investor to submit a validated proxy control number orto be validated that the investor owns shares through his or hervalidated brokerage account. In embodiments, the validated retailinvestor is able to reply only to postings that are created in thegeneral forum of The Investor Network.

In embodiments, issuers access The Investor Network and are allowed toview content but The Investor Network does not identify the issuers asissuers to other members until the issuers sponsor a Shareholder Forum.In other specific embodiments, issuers access The Investor Network andare allowed to view content, and being identified as issuers to othermembers. FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of an example of theShareholder Forum. In some embodiments, The Investor Network gives anissuer an option to opt-in by creating a Shareholder Forum within itsdesignated channel, i.e. an area of The Investor Network where a contentrelated to the issuer is maintained. In embodiments, The InvestorNetwork allows issuers to obtain issues/sentiments from the community,address shareholders at regularly scheduled times and provide issuerswith an access to other specific features and functions. In embodiments,The Investor Network allows issuers to host a Shareholder Forum inadvance of and in line with their annual shareholder meeting, otherpublic events, or just on an ongoing basis.

In embodiments, The Investor Network allows a validated professionalinvestor to post comments and reply to threads in the professionalinvestor forums, access to post comments and reply to threads in generalforums. In embodiments, The Investor Network allows general public, e.g.non-validated members, to access and view general content in generalforums but the general public are not allowed to post or reply to postsunless they go through the process of validation. In embodiments, TheInvestor Network does not allow the general public to access forumsinvolving professional investors.

In embodiments, The Investor Network validates retail investors andacquires their positional information by validating retail investorsagainst The Investor Network's databases that store information fromfinancial institutions participating in The Investor Network. Inembodiments, when The Investor Network does not have informationnecessary to validate a particular retail investor, The Investor Networkexecutes a real-time web service call to obtain the retail investor'spositional information during the authentication process. Inembodiments, The Investor Network executes the real-time web servicecall to a financial institution that has the retail investor'saccount(s) and either participates in The Investor Network or allowssuch web access to their records. In embodiments, The Investor Networkthen stores the retail investor's positional information in its databaseand uses this information when the retail investor performs certainactivities within The Investor Network. In some embodiments, TheInvestor Network executes the real-time web service call to refreshand/or obtain the retail investor's positional information when retailinvestor posts content in The Investor Network.

In embodiments, when a retail investor accesses The Investor Networkthrough the brokerage-based window, The Investor Network obtains thepositional information for this retail investor from the brokerage firmor the brokerage firm's vendor at the time of the access. Inembodiments, The Investor Network acquires positional information duringthe brokerage-based access even if this information was stored duringinvestor's previous access. In embodiments, The Investor Networkacquires positional information during the brokerage-based access when acertain time passes from when the retail investor previously accessedThe Investor Network.

In embodiments, The Investor Network validates retail investors usingproxy data that The Investor Network obtains from an issuer or from aparticipating financial institution or from a financial institution thatallows The Investor Network to access its records. In embodiments, TheInvestor Network refreshes, re-acquires, proxy data that it maintains ona certain periodic basis. In embodiments, The Investor Networkrefreshes, re-acquires, proxy data that it maintains independently fromwhen it needs that data to validate a particular retail investor. Inembodiments, The Investor Network refreshes, re-acquires, proxy datathat it maintains on a certain periodic basis for certain financialinstitutions. In embodiments, Investor Network refreshes, re-acquires,proxy data that it maintains on a certain periodic basis which dependson a particular characteristic of the proxy data. For example, in someembodiments, the periodicity with which The Investor Network refreshesthe proxy data depends on whether the associate stock belongs to aparticular market index, such as S&P 500, Russell 1000, or Russell 3000.For example, The Investor Network performs rolling daily refreshes ofselected issuers.

In embodiments, The Investor Network refreshes, re-acquires, proxy datathat it maintains based on a self-triggered maintenance and incrementalrefresh procedure. In embodiments, The Investor Network retrieves a fulldata load of proxy data (e.g. S&P 500, Russell 1000, etc) from financialinstitutions and then retrieves a self-triggered incremental change fileon some periodic basis. The change file incorporates multipletransaction types including add/change/deletes of positional informationas well acquiring account level updates including new accounts andclosed accounts.

In embodiments, The Investor Network may skip validation step whenretail investors access through a broker-based window. In embodiments,The Investor Network validates retail investors when they access througha stand-alone site by asking investor to select his or her broker andprovide an account number. In this scenario, the member would not haveto provide the login/password information, and the account number aloneor in a combination with account registration information, zip codeand/or other similar information is sufficient to identify the retailinvestor as a shareholder through available proxy data.

In embodiments, The Investor Network accesses and/or acquires retailinvestors' positional information from a data aggregator/consolidator,such as CashEdge, Yodlee, or Allbridge, on a certain periodic basis.

In embodiments, The Investor Network validates professional investorsand issuers by inquiring its own database, accessing records ofparticipating financial institutions and/or regulatory agencies.

In embodiments, after The Investor Network validates its investormembers, both professional and retail, it generates investors'positional information when investors actively participate in TheInvestor Network. In embodiments, after The Investor Network validatesits investor members, it generates positional information regarding aparticular investment, e.g. number or range of shares owned or managedby an investor, when the investor actively engages in an activity thatis related to this particular investment, such as a Shareholder Forum.In embodiments, the Investor Network displays a member's generatedpositional information to be observed by other members when the memberactively participates in the Investor Network. In other specificembodiments, the Investor Network does not generate and/or does notdisplay the investor's personal information when it generates ordisplays the member's positional information

In some specific embodiments, there is a mandatory requirement that theInvestor Network generates and/or displays the member's generatedpositional information to be observed by other members. In otherspecific embodiments, the Investor Network prevents a member frommodifying and/or deleting the member's positional information that theInvestor Network generates and/or displays for the member.

FIG. 8 shows a functional block diagram illustrating one embodiment ofthe present invention. According to this embodiment, an investoraccesses The Investor Network 800 through an access gateway 802 thatidentifies whether the investor 801 accesses from a web site of aparticipating financial institution or through The Investor Network'sstand-alone site. In embodiments, using the access gateway 802, TheInvestor Network allows its members and prospective members to accessthe network's content through a single sign-on mechanism. Avalidation/collection block 803 performs the validation and thecollection of the positional information. In some embodiments, thevalidation/collection block 803 also collects and receives from externalsources additional information such as, for example, news, proxy data,reports, market data, etc. After The Investor Network validates and/oridentifies an investor as belonging to a particular member category, forexample, validated retail investor, non-validated retail investor,general public, issuer, professional investor, etc.,—acustomization/personalization block 804 formats The Investor Network'scontent that is available to or is permitted to access by this membercategory. In the embodiment, the customization/personalization block 804formats the displayed content based on any personal preferences that themember expressed during the past visits or based on the information thatThe Investor Network collected about the member's past activities in TheInvestor Network.

In embodiments, the customization/personalization block 804 formatscontent based on, for example, at least one of the followingpermissions:

-   -   (a) view permissions—controlling the ability to see a forum    -   (b) read permissions—controlling the ability to read posts        within a forum,    -   (c) post permissions—controlling the ability to post new message        in the forum,    -   (d) reply permissions—controlling the ability to reply to        existing messages,    -   (e) vote permissions—controlling the ability to vote in polls,    -   (f) attachment permissions—allowing members to embed text        attachments and videos,    -   (g) create poll permissions—enabling members to participate in        question & answer sessions,    -   (h) permissions to mark posts as “answers”,    -   (i) sticky permissions to enable posts to be configured so they        stay on top of all other posts for a duration of time, and    -   (j) announce permissions that enable a post to be marked as an        announcement for posting information about the forum that all        members should read

Continue with FIG. 8, a content presentation/participation block 804generates displays content and controls a level of participation allowedto this particular member category, e.g. view-only or post and reply topostings, etc. In embodiments, the content presentation/participationblock 804 also generates an investor's positional information when theinvestor actively participates in The Investor Network. In embodiments,the content presentation/participation block 804 displays the generatedpositional information to be observed by other members. In some specificembodiments, there is a mandatory requirement that the contentpresentation/participation block 804 generates and/or displays themember's positional information.

In some other specific embodiments, the contentpresentation/participation block 804 does not generate and/or does notdisplay the member's personal information when it generate and/ordisplays the member's positional information. In another specificembodiments, the content presentation/participation block 804 prevents amember from modifying and/or deleting the member's positionalinformation that is generated and/or displayed by the contentpresentation/participation block 804.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of the validationprocess performed by The Investor Network through a single screensign-on process when an investor accesses The Investor Network through astand-alone website. The Investor Network 900 first identifies in a step901 whether the retail investor accesses The Investor Network through abroker-integrated service. If the answer is no, then The InvestorNetwork next identifies in a step 902 whether The Investor Network isable to validate the retail investor's positional information utilizinga real-time web service call to an institution that holds the retailinvestor's positional information. If the answer is no, then TheInvestor Network next identifies in a step 903 whether The InvestorNetwork is able to validate the investor's positional information usingproxy data gathered for or provided by an issuer. If the answer is no,then The Investor Network next identifies in a step 904 if The InvestorNetwork is able to verify the retail investor's positional informationusing a data aggregator. If the answer is yes to any of the precedingquestions, the retail investor is deemed to be validated and TheInvestor Network grants full access privileges in a step 905 to thisvalidated retail investor. In contrast, if the answer is still no in thestep 904, then The Investor Network denies full access privileges andconsiders such retail investor to be a member of general public.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an architectureof the investment network in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a contentorganization in The Investor Network in accordance with the invention.In embodiments, the functional make-up of The Investor Network consistsof a discussion board, social media functionality, channels, shareholderand professional investor sub-forums, and education/demonstration onusing the system. In embodiments, The Investor Network ensures that theuser generated content is readily accessible and provides a source formembers to easily research investment ideas by organizing the forumsinto categories 1101 (e.g. Equities, Indexes, Macroeconomic Trends,Industries, etc.) which can be further broken down into content basedchannels 1102 (e.g. Microsoft, Nasdaq, Politics, Software, etc.). Inembodiments, within each of these classifications, e.g. categories 1101and channels 1102, The Investor Network provides forums or discussionboards 1103. In embodiments, different forums are available to thegeneral community, includes both retail and professional investors, andto members of the professional investor community. In embodiments, thesame forums are available to the general community and to members of theprofessional investor community. In embodiments, forums are establishedto create micro-communities for investors care for specific issues, forexample, investors that view investing as gaming.

In embodiments, within each specific forum, members are able to type inposts 1105 as well as upload media specific content such as video, audioand images. In embodiments, members are able to reply to specific post,and threads 1104 are designated as specific posts and all the resultingreplies.

In embodiments, activity based content is be organized into controlpanels, such as selection controls, that are placed within pages of TheInvestor Network. In embodiments, the control panels, such as selectioncontrols, are member configurable from a selection of activity baseditems. For example, in embodiments, the set of activity based itemsincludes:

Most Recently Added Post;

Top Ranked Post;

Most Viewed Posts; and

Most Replied to Post.

In embodiments, by clicking on any of these items, members are directedto an activity page that shows the top 10 items in sequential fashion(e.g. if the member selects the most recently added post, they will seethe 10 most recently added posts with the one they selected on top). Inembodiments, the initial display of postings is controlled by thecontent presentation/participation block 804 in FIG. 8. In embodiments,the view can also contain the ability to expand a commented post anddisplay the actual threaded discussion.

In embodiments, categories 1101, channels 1102 and forums 1103 aredesigned or generated through the interests of the community. Forexample, in some embodiments, the content channels 1102 include achannel for a specific investment holding (e.g., MSFT, GE, etc) or aspecific macroeconomic trend (Politics, Oil Price, etc.). Inembodiments, the content based channels 1101 and categories 1102 aredynamically created based on the collective interests of the community.In embodiments, only validated members are able to post or reply tocomments. In embodiments, The Investor Network provides its members withan extensive profile management capability that includes custom itemsbeyond positional information.

In embodiments, The Investor Network provides a capability for validatedmembers to personalize their experience by, for example, maintaining alist of their favorite forums and/or members. In embodiments, TheInvestor Network provides its members with a capability to recommendposts. In embodiments, The Investor Network provides a rating formembers who generate the posts. In embodiments, the rankings are used asa mechanism for the community to acknowledge who is providing valuableinformation. In embodiments, The Investor Network employs a searchmethod that delivers posts of members with higher ranking more often, orat the top of the search result page, and includes other ways todifferentiate posts of members with higher ranking.

In embodiments, The Investor Network provides syndication by allowingmembers of The Investor Network to select posts, members, and eventuallycontent to be sent to a RSS (really simple syndication) reader. Inembodiments, The Investor Network provides a capability to send searchresults, active discussions, unanswered questions, individual forums,and individual threads to members when they become available on TheInvestor Network system. In embodiments, The Investor Network provides acapability to read, reply, and post comments through email and acapability to mass-email a groups of members within the community. Inembodiments, The Investor Network allows members to store, organize,manage and search a repository of posts important to them. Inembodiments, The Investor Network provides a capability to a member tosetup a folder within his or her ‘MyPage’ and place links to particularposts within that folder.

In embodiments, The Investor Network provides a self policing featurethat allows members to report posts that are objectionable. Inembodiments, The Investor Network provides comprehensive searching andfiltering capabilities by making all forum content to be searchable. Inembodiments, the search results are only returned from the forums wherethe member running the search has permissions to read/view the content.In embodiments, The Investor Network utilizes search tools that have acapability to only search specific forums as well as members. Inembodiments, The Investor Network utilizes a search weighting algorithmto control how results are returned based on how content should beavailable to be configured. For example, in embodiments, number ofviews, comments, ratings, etc, could be configured to control the orderof the results. In embodiments, The Investor Network provides acapability to filter posts based on a set of customizable filters (e.g.position level, type of investor, ranking). In embodiments, The InvestorNetwork utilizes semantic search and fuzzy logic to improve accuracy infinding content for its members

In embodiments, The Investor Network provides a reporting capability onbasic usage statistics. In embodiments, The Investor Network providesdetailed analysis of forum threads, tracking answered/unansweredquestions, and provides analytics and trending on how people arecontributing content within the community. In embodiments, The InvestorNetwork uses data on investor insights and trends as a premium service.In embodiments, The Investor Network stores history for all actionsand/or activities that take place within The Investor Network. Inembodiments, The Investor Network supports and/or incorporates plug-insand a 3^(rd) party reporting tools, such as Crystal Reports, Web Trends,and Google Analytics.

In embodiments, a discussion board provides features that, for example,include:

Ability to show standard and threaded discussions,

quick list of posts the member has recently participated in,

active posts,

unanswered posts,

paging,

quoting, favorites,

WYSIWYG editors,

polls and voting,

unlimited forums and categories,

sticky topics and announcements, and

private messaging system.

In embodiments, The Investor Network provides a capability to includeattachments in individual posts. In embodiments, The Investor Networkprovides a capability to a “community manager” to control and determinewhat types of attachments to allow, for example based on extension type.In embodiments, attachments, for example, include photos that can beembedded within the forum posts as attachments, images stored in aseparate photo gallery, or as remote file stored on another server. Inembodiments, attachments in form of videos can also be embedded in forumposts. In embodiments, The Investor Network provides a capability tosearch with the attachments as a requirement.

In embodiments, The Investor Network provides a capability to do contentmirroring, which is a mechanism that allows members to subscribe toother RSS. In embodiments, The Investor Network provides the “communitymoderators” with capabilities for managing content, such as abilities tomove and delete content. In embodiments, The Investor Network providesSPAM, unsolicited bulk messages sent indiscriminately, scoring toautomatically detect and evaluate possible SPAM content. In embodiments,The Investor Network provides its members with a capability to associatetag(s) with posting(s). In embodiments, The Investor Networkautomatically tags content based on the content type (image, audio, andvideo). In embodiments, The Investor Network provides a capability toits members to search its content based on the associated tag (e.g.Economic Crisis, Primaries, Oil Price, etc.), thus allowing its membersto find faster their content when conducting a search for a particularkeyword. In embodiments, The Investor Network automatically highlightstags so that the member has the capability to select suggested tags. Inembodiments, The Investor Network provides tag clouds that provide itsmembers an idea of relative strength on the prevalence and context ofcommon keywords.

In one embodiment of the invention, the investment social network allowsonly its validated members to submit content to The Investor Network. Inone embodiment of the invention, the validated shareholders are providedwith an ability to voice concerns/questions to issuers. In oneembodiment of the invention, issuers, e.g. corporations, are providedwith ability to address the voiced concerns. In one embodiment of theinvention, issuers, e.g. corporations, are provided with ability tocommunicate directly with agreeable investors, who anonymouslyparticipate in these communications with issuers. In one embodiment ofthe invention, The Investor Network provides a secure, trustfulenvironment for interactions between its members.

In one embodiment of the invention, The Investor Network provides anability to analyze and/or data mine the content and other data generatedby members and/or collected by The Investor Network. In one embodimentof the invention, The Investor Network is operated in accordance withSEC rules and other government regulations regarding electroniccommunications interactions concerning investment activities.

In one embodiment of the invention, The Investor Network provides agovernmental agency with an ability to conduct audit activities withinThe Investor Network. In one embodiment of the invention, The InvestorNetwork provides an issuer with a capability to hold and/or broadcastdiscussions, webinars, etc. which are restricted only to itsshareholders. In one embodiment of the invention, the validatedinvestors are given capabilities to perform certain activities, such asreading a review on a recent analyst report, placing a comment on acompany announcement, discussing economic trends with likemindedinvestors. In one embodiment of the invention, certain validated retailinvestors are allowed to view content posted byprofessional/institutional investors. In one embodiment of theinvention, The Investor Network aggregates retail and professionalinvestors' information among numerous financial institutions.

In one embodiment of the invention, The Investor Network issuespre-existing credentials to investors who access The Investor Networkthrough a website of a financial institution that is integrated with TheInvestor Network. In one embodiment of the invention, The InvestorNetwork provides the validated investors with a capability to filtercontent based on numerous criteria. In one embodiment of the invention,The Investor Network customizes and personalizes its appearance for aparticular investor based on this investor's positional information.

In one embodiment of the invention, The Investor Network allows issuersand/or financial institutions to target a specific group of retailand/or professional investors. In one embodiment of the invention, TheInvestor Network continuously updates its members' positionalinformation In one embodiment of the invention, The Investor Networkdifferentiates entitlements to certain capabilities based on thevisitor's status and/or the visitor's classification as belonging to aparticular type of financial market participants (e.g. retail investor,professional/institutional investor, issuers, etc.). In one embodimentof the invention, The Investor Network allows a network manager toconfigure capabilities and permissions that govern visitors' behavior inThe Investor Network. In one embodiment of the invention, The InvestorNetwork tracks activities of each visitor.

Of note, the embodiments described herein may, of course, be implementedusing any appropriate computer system hardware and/or computer systemsoftware. In this regard, those of ordinary skill in the art are wellversed in the type of computer hardware that may be used (e.g., amainframe, a mini-computer, a personal computer (“PC”), a network (e.g.,an intranet and/or the internet)), the type of computer programmingtechniques that may be used (e.g., object oriented programming), and thetype of computer programming languages that may be used (e.g., C++,Basic, AJAX, Javascript). The aforementioned examples are, of course,illustrative and not restrictive.

While a number of embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed, it is understood that these embodiments are illustrativeonly, and not restrictive, and that many modifications may becomeapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. For example, certainmethods may have been described herein as being “computer implementable”or “computer implemented”. In this regard, it is noted that while suchmethods can be implemented using a computer, the methods do notnecessarily have to be implemented using a computer. Also, to the extentthat such methods are implemented using a computer, not every step mustnecessarily be implemented using a computer. Further still, the varioussteps may be carried out in any desired order (and any desired steps maybe added and/or any desired steps may be eliminated).

What is claimed:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by a processor, anidentifying data concerning an ownership or management of at least onebrokerage account or at least one security by at least one user; whereinthe identifying data of the at least one user comprises a proxy controlnumber associated with the at least one user and an investor typeidentifier of the at least one user; obtaining, by the processor, basedon the identifying data, positional information associated with the atleast one user; validating, by the processor, the at least one user asat least one permissioned user based at least in part on the positionalinformation associated with the at least one user; providing, by theprocessor and over a computer network, to the at least one permissioneduser, a permissioned access on a computing device associated with thepermissioned user to a network platform hosting a shareholder forum anda presentation of a shareholder meeting; generating, by a processor,within the network platform, a representation of the positionalinformation associated with the at least one permissioned user withoutproviding a personal identifying information of the at least onepermissioned user so that to allow at least one other user, accessingthe network platform, to observe the representation of the positionalinformation of the at least one permissioned user that remainsanonymous; permitting, by the processor, the at least one permissioneduser to perform at least one activity within the network platform basedat least in part on the positional information of the at least onepermissioned user, the investor type identifier of the at least onepermissioned user, or both; and wherein the at least one activity is atleast one of i) interacting with the at least one other user within thenetwork platform and ii) accessing a particular content within thenetwork platform.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least onesecurity is associated with an issuer who hosts the shareholder meeting.3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating and storing, bythe processor, a record of activities of the at least one permissioneduser in the shareholder forum to form an auditable user activitiesrecord.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the shareholder meeting is anannual meeting.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:permitting, by the processor, the at least one permissioned user toaccess, on the computing device associated with the at least onepermissioned user, the shareholder forum prior to a start of thepresentation of the shareholder meeting.
 6. The method of claim 1,further comprising: permitting, by the processor, the at least onepermissioned user to access, on the computing device associated with theat least one permissioned user, the shareholder forum after to thepresentation of the shareholder meeting has ended.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: preventing, by the processor, the at leastone permissioned user from altering or deleting the representation ofthe positional information within the network platform.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: permitting, by the processor, a sponsoringissuer to originate, within the network platform, the shareholder forum.9. A system comprising: a non-transitory computer memory storingcomputer-executable program instructions; and at least one processorconfigured to at least: receive identifying data concerning an ownershipor management of at least one brokerage account or at least one securityby at least one user, wherein the identifying data of the at least oneuser comprises a proxy control number associated with the at least oneuser and an investor type identifier of the at least one user; obtain,based on the identifying data, positional information associated withthe at least one user; validate the at least one user as at least onepermissioned user based at least in part on the positional informationassociated with the at least one user; provide, over a computer network,to the permissioned user, a permissioned access on a computing deviceassociated with the permissioned user to a network platform hosting ashareholder forum and a presentation of a shareholder meeting; generate,within the network platform, a representation of the positionalinformation associated with the at least one permissioned user withoutproviding personal identifying information of the at least onepermissioned user so that to allow at least one other user, accessingthe network platform, to observe the representation of the positionalinformation of the at least one permissioned user that remainsanonymous; permit the at least one permissioned user to perform at leastone activity within the network platform based at least in part on thepositional information of the at least one permissioned user, theinvestor type identifier of the at least one permissioned user, or both;and wherein the at least one activity is at least one of i) interactingwith the at least one other user within the network platform and ii)accessing a particular content within the network platform.
 10. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the at least one security is associated withan issuer who hosts the shareholder meeting.
 11. The system of claim 9,wherein the at least one processor is further configured to generate andstore a record of activities of the at least one permissioned user inthe shareholder forum to form an auditable user activities record. 12.The system of claim 9, wherein the shareholder meeting is an annualmeeting.
 13. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one processoris further configured to permit the at least one permissioned user toaccess, on the computing device associated with the at least onepermissioned user, the shareholder forum prior to a start of thepresentation of the shareholder meeting.
 14. The system of claim 9,wherein the at least one processor is further configured to permit theat least one permissioned user to access, on the computing deviceassociated with the at least one permissioned user, the shareholderforum after to the presentation of the shareholder meeting has ended.15. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to prevent the at least one permissioned user from alteringor deleting the representation of the positional information within thenetwork platform.
 16. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least oneprocessor is further configured to permit a sponsoring issuer tooriginate, within the network platform, the shareholder forum.